“Tech Boom Spurs Latest San Francisco Rent Hikes”

Apr. 13, 2016 – VOA (Video)

 

SAN FRANCISCO—California’s high-tech center of Silicon Valley has expanded through the San Francisco Bay Area, bringing high-paying jobs and soaring rents. The companies headquartered there range from Apple, Google and Twitter to the ride-sharing service Uber and online business-services firm Salesforce.com.

Right or wrong, they are collectively being blamed for the region’s housing crisis.

Yet San Francisco’s historic Chinatown neighborhood has been coping with high housing costs for decades, and activists say the neighborhood demonstrates how cities can protect their communities through zoning regulations that maintain affordable housing.

“Chinatown development has locals worried about neighbourhood’s future”

Jan. 22, 2016 – The Globe and Mail 

King-mong Chan, who was born in Hong Kong and came to Canada at the age of 1, says he has been discovering his roots through Vancouver’s historic Chinatown. But as encroaching new midrise condo developments threaten the culture and charm of the tiny neighbourhood – with a history that goes back to the 1880s – he’s wondering if there will be anything left of Chinese tradition once the condo developers are finished with it.

“There shouldn’t be any more condos,” says Mr. King-mong. “We’ve seen enough development. It’s like a train unleashed.”

Mr. Chan is part of a coalition of young Chinese-Canadians that has formed in the last couple of years in reaction to the sweeping changes in Chinatown. Many see them as the voice of a movement to save Chinatown before it’s too late.